Friction casement adjuster



' Aug., 18A, 1931- R. c. cal-wn! 1,813,977

FRICTION CASEMENT ADJUSTER Filed Jan. 25. 1929 INVENTOR ATTORNEYPatented Aug. 18, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT -oFFlcE ROBERT C. GRAY, OFWARREN TOWNSHIP, SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW' JERSEY FRICTION CASEMENT.ADJUSTER Application filed January 25, 1929. Serial No. 334,965.

My invention relates to improvements in friction easement adjusters ofthe type adapted for use on easements, transoms and similar hingeddevices for holding the same A at any desired position. Y

My invention more particularly relates to easement adjusters providedwith means for regulating the resistance offered by the adjuster tomovement of the window or other device to which it is attached.

I am aware that adjusters have been producedrand are in commercial usein which tractive friction may be regulated after the adjuster has beenattached to the easement.

` l5 In such adjusters a barrel and plunger are used, the barrel beingconnected to the frame ,of the window and the stem of the plunger to theeasement, `so that as theV easement is swung open the plunger will bedrawn along the barrel.l The plunger is made of two sections which arerelatively expansible so as to vary frictional engagement with thebarrel.l The plunger stem has a wedge thereon which its between theplunger sections and said sections engage a nut threaded on the stem, sothat by turning the plunger in one direction or the other with respectto the stemthere will be a relative movement between the wedge and theplunger sections,

causing the latter to expand or contract, depending uponv the. directionof turning. Since the plunger is inaccessible the barrel is so mountedthat it may be rotated and thus, by reason of frictional engagementbetween the barrel and the plunger, the latter will also be rotated. Itwill be observed that in this construction reliance is placed on initialfriction between the plunger and the barrel, else the plunger cannot beturned, but inl adjusting the device a careless or unexperienced personmight turn the barrel sufficiently to lose friction between the barreland theplunger. When this happens, the only way of vadjusting the deviceis to take it it has expanded suiiiciently to produce the requisitefriction. Y

It is an object of my invention to overcome this diiculty by providing aconstruction 5 such that expansion of the plunger will not Vvice asadapted to a Casement window;

apart and turn the plunger on the stem until depend upon frictionalengagement between the plunger and barrel.

Another object is to provide means for adjusting a wedge in anexpansible plunger from a point outside the barrel of the adjuster. j

Another object of my invention is to provide an adjuster in which theplunger is automatically lubricated,k thereby insuring a smoothoperation at all times. With the constructions as heretofore produced ithas been undesirable to provide lubrication for the plunger for thereason that the friction between the plunger and the barrel has beendepended upon to furnish the means for adjusting the expansion of theplunger. By reason of the positive expansion of the plunger provided bymy invention, this difiiculty no longer exists and consequently, I amable to provide means which will automatically keep the contactingsurfaces of the plunger and barrel lubricated. Another advantage of`lubricating the plunger, lies in the fact that once the device has beenadjustedfor a certain tractive resistance the adjustment will bemaintained with a high degree of permanency, whereas in previousconstructions the dry contacting surfaces were apt to wear and vary thetractive resistance, thus requiring constant adjustment'. 80

With these objects in view and other objects which vwillappearhereinafter, I shall now describe a preferred embodiment of myinvention and shall thereafter point out the Y novelty and scope of theinvention in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure'l is a side elevation of my improved friction Casement adjustershowing the' de- V9o Fig. 2 is a view of the adjusted in longitudinalsection and on a larger scale;

Fig.- 3 is a view in section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Y y

Fig. 4 is a View in perspective ofone of the 95 plunger sections; r

Fig. 5 is a viewin transverse section taken on Vthe line 5 5 of Fig. 3;and

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of one of the plates used in theplunger. f 10 My improved adjuster comprises a barrel or cylindricalcasing 10 provided with a cap 11 on one end thereof. The cap ispivotally secured by means of a rivet 12 to a bracket 13. The oppositeend of the barrel is provided with a cap 111 which is centrallyapertured to pass a plunger stem 15. The plunger stem 15 is screwed orotherwise secured in one end of a fitting 16 which at its opposite endis pivotally connected by means of a rivet 17 to a bracket 18.

V'Vithin the barrel 10 is .an expansible plunger 21 which islongitudinallyV slit to form two like sections 22 and 23. Each sectionis in the form of a semi-cylindrical shell provided with an inwardlyextending flange 211 at itsupper end. The stem lisformed with an annularrecess to receive the flanges 24,

- thereby attaching the plunger to the stem so that the plunger may bedrawn into or out of the barrel 10 and at the same time will be free toexpand. Each of the plunger sections is further provided with adiaphragm wall 25 which lits `against the inner end of the stem 15K..

The plunger 15 is longitudinally bored to receive a rod 26 extendingtherethrough. This rod is provided at its upper end with a screw threadadapted to engage a nut 27. This nut is litted into a slot 23 whichextends transversely through the fitting 16j. The outer surface ofthenut is knu-rledv so that it may readily be turned between thumb andfinger` to feed the rod 26r longitudinally with respect to the stem 15.The rod 26 projects from the inner end of the stem 15, passing throughan aperture 29' formed between the diaphragm walls 2,5, and secured tothe lower end ofthe rod there is a wedge 30. This wedge preferablyconsists. of a cylindrical plug with opposite sides thereof cut away atan angle to reduce the thickness` of the plug Atoward its lower end'.

The plug is adapted to bear against a pair of plates 31 which aremounted in the plunger 2l- These pla-tes,I asfindicatedin Fig. 6", areof'v spring steel and are mounted at anl angle correspondingsubstantially to the angle of Fig, 2'. In other words, the plates at oneend are seated against the shell of the plunger sections at the base ofthe` diaphragm walls 25 and meet at. the junction line of the, sectionsnear the lower end of the plunger. The lower ends 0f the plates 31v arepreferably beveled as indicated at4 32 (Fig. 6) so as to fit againstinclined surfaces 33 formedv in the `plunger' sections. The platesv arefree to flexbecause they are supported only at their ends and beingformed of spring metal, they provide for a resilient expansion ofA theplunger.

In use, the' devicemay be mountedas shown vin Fig. 1, or if desired itmay be inverted.. In

either case one of the brackets will be secured to the window frame '345and the bracket to the easement 35. Because the pivotal connection tothe bracket secured to the frame 3l is not axially alined with the hinge35?L connecting the easement to the frame, when the window is swungopen, as indicated by broken lines in F ig. 1, the plunger stem 15 willbe drawn out of the barrel 10, sliding the plunger 21 in the barrel.This movement `will be` resisted by friction between the plunger and thebarrel. The friction is regulated by turning the nut 27 so as tofeed thewedge 30l in or out of the plunger, and it will be evident that as thewedge is fed inward the plunger sections22and 23 will be moved apart,expanding the plunger and increasing the friction between the plungerand the barrel. f

In order :to lubricate the plunger each plunger section is formed withan aperture 36 therethrough in that portion lof the sec'- cated so. thata smo-oth action will always A I be provided between the plungerV andthe barrel, andv there will be no danger of wear'- ing the surfaces, aswould' happen if dry friction surfaces were used..

lt will be observed' that in regulating this adjuster, the wedge 30 ispositively fed into or out of the plunger" byturning the nut 27. Inother words, there is a positive means for regulating the tractivefriction of the adv juster from a'point outside of the barrel", so thatno matter how loose the plunger may be in the barrel i't'can always heexpanded tothe desired extent.` At first thought it may be consideredthat the rod 26' should be held while the nut 2.7 is turned thereon, Vbuthe rod' 26" will not turn with the nut 27' hecause of.K its engagement.with the plates 31 and even though the. plunger were contracted to suchan extent' as to provide no. frictional lcontact between the barrel 10and the T15 tion and thatv I consider myself at liberty-1'25 to makesuch variations and changes in construction and arrangements ofparts'asfall withinthe spirit andscope of the following claims. f i

l claim :V

'li n 1. In a device of the character described, a barrel, a plungerslidable therein, a hollow stem connected to the plunger and projectingfrom the barrel, the plunger having a pair of laterally separablesections, a wedge adapted to force the sections apart and therebydiametrically expand the plunger, a rod secured to the wedge andextending through the stem, and means for adjusting the rodlongitudinally to control the expansion of the plunger.

2. In a device of the character described, a barrel, a plunger slidableVtherein, a hollow stem connected to the plunger and projecting from thebarrel, the plunger comprising a pair of laterally separable sections, abearing plate in each section, a wedge operable between the bearingplates to force the sections apart, and means exterior to the barrel foroperating the wedge.

3. In a device of the character described, a barrel, a plunger slidabletherein, a hollow stem connected to the plunger and projecting from thebarrel, the plunger comprising a pair of laterally expansible sections,a resilient bearing plate in each section, a wedge operable between theplates to force the sections apart, a rod secured at its inner end tothe wedge and projecting through the stem, the outer end of the rodbeing threaded, a nut upon said threaded rod, and means for limitingaxial movement of the nut with respect to the stem whereby on rotationof the nut the wedge will be adjusted to determine the diametricexpansion or contraction of the plunger.

4:. In a device of the character described, a barrel, a plunger slidabletherein, a hollow stem connected to the plunger and projecting from thebarrel, the plunger comprising a pair of laterally expansible sections,a resilient bearing plate in each section, a wedge operable between theplates to force the sections apart, a rod secured at its inner end tothe wedge and projecting through the stem, the outer end of the rodbeing threaded, a nut upon said threaded rod, a fitting secured to theouter end of the stem and having a transverse slot therein to receivethe nut, and a fpair of brackets pivotally secured to the barrel and thefitting respectively.

5. In a device of the character described, a barrel, a plunger slidabletherein and comprising a pair of laterally separable sections,

a resilient bearing plate in each section, a wedge movable between theplates to force the sections apart, and means exterior to the barrel formoving the wedge, each plunger section being formed with a pocket forlubricant closed by one of the bearing platesy and with an openingleading therefrom to the exterior of the plunger section whereby as theplate is flexed lubricant will be forced out of the pocket through theopening.

6. In a device of the character described, a

barrel member, a plunger member movable therein, means for attaching oneof said members to a window casing and the other to a window, means forexpanding the plunger member to cause friction between the latter memberand the casing member, and means exterior to the casing member andoperable while said members are attached for positively controlling theexpanding means to maintain any desired degree of friction.

7. In a device of the character described, a barrel member, anautomatically expansible plunger member, means for expanding the plungermember to cause friction between the latter member and the casingmember, and means exterior to the casing member and operable while saidmembers are attached for positively controlling the expanding means tomaintain any desired degree of friction.

8. In a device of the character described, a barrel member, anautomaticaly expansible plunger member, means for resiliently expandingthe plunger member to cause friction between the latter member and thecasing member, and means exterior to the casing member and operablewhile said members are attached for positively controlling the expandingmeans to maintain any desired degree of friction.

9. In a device of the character described, 95 a barrel, an automaticallyexpansible plunger slidable therein, means within the plunger forresiliently expanding the same, means exterior to the barrel foractuating the expanding means, and means actuated by the ex- 100 pandingmeans for lubricating the plunger.

10. In a device of the character described,

a barrel, a plunger slidable therein and comprising a pair of lateralyseparable sections,

a wedge slidable between the sections, and 105 means exterior to thebarrel for effecting a positive nonrotary sliding movement of the wedgewith respect to the sections to force the sections apart and hold thesame at any desired degree of spacing.

l1 In testimony whereof, I have signed this o specification.

ROBERT C. GRAY.

